PIA AKERMAN JUNE 03, 2014 THE AUSTRALIAN PETER Costello has called for lower penalty rates as a priority to increase productivity, while declaring Tony Abbott safe as Liberal leader amid renewed leadership speculation. Speaking at a Tourism and Transport Forum in Melbourne this morning, the former federal treasurer gave his views on the Abbott government’s first budget and the virulent reaction it has received from many quarters. Mr Costello said discussion about how to grow the Australian economy was largely absent, and the issue of declining productivity had to receive a greater focus. Push on Sunday penalties “Productivity has been declining really now for seven or eight years,” he said. “Personally because I believe so much employment is going to be in service industries, like tourism, like cafes … I think penalty rates and weekend loadings are something I would do if I wanted to encourage employment.” Mr Costello suggested…

June 13, 2014 NACS Online Trends such as ‘hyper-showrooming’ and ‘micro-personalization’ and ‘lifestyle advisors’ are coming. ​CHICAGO – Picture this: A grocery store with shifting walls that transforms into a restaurant at night and a farmers market on Saturday mornings. Sound far-fetched? A recent article in Ad Age magazine describes how it could happen as soon as 2025, according to a new exhibit by the Food Marketing Institute that seeks to predict food retail trends for the next decade. The exhibit, which debuted at FMI’s tradeshow in Chicago this week, was overseen by Tesser, a San Francisco-based brand strategy and design firm. Project sponsors include Hershey Co., Coca-Cola Refreshments and American Express. If the FMI predictions are correct, shoppers could soon encounter the following: The new front end: “The frictionless checkout is going to happen,” FMI predicts, meaning people will simply walk out after their purchases with payment handled automatically.…

Judith Sloan JUNE 16, 2014 THE AUSTRALIAN THE nannies are panicking. Why hasn’t the consumption of cigarettes collapsed after the introduction of mandatory plain packaging? How can we explain this one? Like kids who haven’t done their homework, the excuses are coming thick and fast. • We never expected the consumption of cigarettes to fall immediately. • The tobacco companies are making up the figures to suit their case. • A closer examination of the figures points to a fall in tobacco consumption this year. • Lower prices are driving up consumption; it has nothing to do with plain packaging. So what do we know about the consumption of cigarettes in Australia since plain packaging was introduced in December 2012, thanks to Head Nanny, Nicola Roxon? The first thing to note is that relying on expenditure is tricky because it is the product of quantity and price. If we look…

Sue Neales JUNE 09, 2014 THE AUSTRALIAN VEGETABLE and fruit growers are outraged at attempts by supermarket giant Woolworths to make farmers who supply it with fresh produce cover the costs of its high-profile marketing campaign featuring British celebrity chef Jamie Oliver. Grower organisation Ausveg yesterday claimed that a 40c a box fee that Woolworths was charging its fruit, potato and vegetable farmers was costing bigger suppliers more than $100,000 over the six-week campaign. Ausveg acting chief executive William Churchill also alleged that for some smaller growers, funding Woolworths’ extravagant “Jamie’s Garden” fresh food campaign made the difference between making a profit and a loss. Ausveg and independent South Australian senator Nick Xenophon both called on the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission to investigate the behaviour of Woolworths. Woolworths already takes a mandatory set “marketing” levy of between 3 and 5 per cent from the final price it pays all…